Fowls or joints should be tied or well skewered into shape before boiling.

Every thing should be gently simmered, rather than fast boiled, in order to be tender. The water should never be allowed to stop simmering before the article is quite done. A pudding is thus entirely ruined.

The kettle should be kept covered, merely raising the cover at times to remove the scum. Boiled fowl, with a white sauce, is a favorite English dish, and very nice it is if properly prepared.

Frying.

Frying means cooking by immersion in hot fat, butter, or oil. There is no English word for what is called frying in a spoonful of fat, first on one side, and then on the other. SautÉ is the French word, and should be Anglicized. Ordinary cooks, instead of frying, invariably sautÉ every thing. Almost every article that is usually sautÉd is much better and more economical fried; as, for instance, oysters, fish, birds, cutlets, crabs, etc.

The fat should always be tested before the article is immersed. A little piece of bread may be thrown in, and if it colors quickly, the fat is ready, and not before. The temperature of hot grease, it will be remembered, is much greater than that of boiling water, which can not exceed a certain degree of heat, whether it boil slow or fast. Hot grease reaches a very high degree of heat, and consequently the surface of any thing is almost instantaneously hardened or crisped when thrown into it. The inside is thus kept free from grease, and is quickly cooked. An article first dipped in egg and bread-crumbs should be entirely free from grease when thus cooked, as the egg is hardened the instant it touches the hot grease, and the oyster, croquette, cutlet, or sweet-bread is perfectly protected. The same fat can be used repeatedly for frying the same thing. The fat in which fish is fried should not be again used for any thing except fish. Professional cooks have several frying-kettles, in which fat is kept for frying different things. A little kettle for frying potatoes exclusively should always be at hand.

One will see that this style of cooking is economical, as there is very little waste of fat; and then fried articles need no other dressing.

After frying fish, meat, or vegetables, let the fat stand about five minutes; strain, and then return it to the kettle, which should always be kept covered, after it is once cold.

Beef suet, salted, is quite as good for frying as lard, and is much cheaper. It is well to purchase it by the pound, and have it rendered in the kitchen.

To Prepare Grease for Frying (Professor Blot).

Take beef suet, the part around the kidneys, or any kind of fat, raw or cooked, and free of fibres, nerves, thin skin, or bones; chop it fine; add to it whatever you may have of fat skimmed off the top of meat soup; put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle; set it on a moderate fire; boil gently for fifteen minutes; skim it well during the process; take from the fire, leave it five minutes, and then strain it; after which, put it in pots, and keep them in a dry and cool place; cover the pots well every time you have occasion to use, but never cover them while the grease is warm. This grease is as good, if not better than any other to fry fish, fritters, and other similar things, which require to be entirely covered with grease.[A]

Broiling.

I did not appreciate the nicety of broiling until, upon an occasion, a gentleman invited a dinner company to a private dining-room of one of our large restaurants, to eat a certain kind of fish, which he considered especially fine. The host was quite out of humor to see the fish come to the table baked, when he had ordered it broiled. The proprietor afterward explained that, for some reason, his French cook was absent for that day, and he had no other who could broil so large a fish. I at once realized that, after all, it must be a delicate and difficult thing to broil a large fish, so that the centre would be well done, and the surface not burned. The smaller and thinner the article, the hotter should be the fire; the larger the article, the more temperate the fire, or, rather, the greater distance it should at first be placed from it. The fish, in this case, should have been wrapped in oiled or buttered paper. It should have been placed rather near the fire for the first few moments; then removed farther away, or placed on another more moderate fire. A large baking-pan should have covered the top of the fish, to hold the heat. When nearly done, the paper should have been removed, to allow the surface to brown.

Always grease the gridiron well, and have it hot, before the meat is placed on it. Any thing egged and bread-crumbed should be buttered before it is broiled. Fish should be buttered and sprinkled with flour, which will prevent the skin from adhering to the gridiron. Cutlets, and in fact every thing, are more delicate buttered before broiling. A little lemon-juice is also often a nice addition. Birds, and other things which need to be halved, should be broiled, inside first.

Remember that a hot, clear fire is necessary for cooking all small articles. They should be turned often, to be cooked evenly, without being burned.

Never put a fork in the lean part of meat on the gridiron, as it allows the juice to escape.

Always cover the gridiron with a tin pan or a baking-pan. The sooner the meat is cooked without burning, the better. The pan holds the heat, and often prevents a stray line of smoke from touching the meat.

If the fire should be too hot, sprinkle salt over it.

Roasting.

There is little use to talk about roasting, as but few will attempt it, always considering it easier to bake instead. Indeed, there is so little demand in many sections for stoves and ranges suited to the purpose that they are difficult to obtain. Of course, there is no comparison between these modes of cooking. Beef, mutton, turkeys, ducks, or birds—in fact, any kind of meat is tenfold better roasted than baked. In Europe, all these articles are roasted; and people there would have great contempt for a piece of beef or a turkey baked. In New York and Philadelphia, also, at the finer establishments, the meats are generally roasted. The trouble is little greater than to bake. It is only necessary to have the range or stove constructed for roasting, and a tin screen, with a spit and jack, to place before the coals. Some of the roasters are arranged with a spring-jack. The meat is placed on the spit, and the spring wound up, which sets the meat to revolving slowly before the fire.

In roasting, the meat should at first be placed near the coals, so as to quickly harden the surface; then it should be removed back a little distance, to be cooked through, without burning. The oftener it is basted, the better it is. If the roast of meat is very large, it should be surrounded with a buttered paper.

Just before the meat is done, it should be basted with a little butter or drippings, then sprinkled with flour, and placed nearer the fire, to brown nicely, when it will take a frothy appearance.

Much depends upon the management of the fire. It should be made some time before the meat is placed for roasting, so that the coals may be bright and hot. It should also be strong enough to last, with only the addition of an occasional coal at the top. In fine establishments abroad, a grate for burning coal, charcoal, or wood is made in the kitchen, for the purpose of roasting only. This is convenient, but more expensive than roasting in ranges or stoves, where the same fire may serve for cooking every thing.

SautÉing.

As I have already said, frying implies immersing in fat or oil; but sautÉing means to cook in a spider or sautÉ pan, with just enough hot fat to keep the article, while being cooked, from sticking. The fat should always be quite hot before placing on it any thing to cook.

Braising.

A braising-kettle has a deep cover, which holds coals; consequently, the cooking is done from above as well as below. It is almost air-tight, thus preventing evaporation, and the article to be cooked imbibes whatever flavor one may wish to give it.

The article is generally cooked in stock or broth (water may be used also), with slices of bacon, onion, carrot, etc., placed around the meat. It is a favorite mode of cooking pigeons. An ordinary cut of beef may be made very savory cooked in this manner, and the juice left makes a good gravy when freed from fat.

If a braising-pan is not at hand, a common, tight-covered saucepan answers very well without the upper coals. Except for coloring larding on the top of the article to be braised, I do not appreciate the value of the upper coals, anyway; and the coloring may be accomplished with the salamander or hot shovel as well.

Larding.

Cut the firmest bacon fat, with a heated or very sharp knife, into square lengths of equal size. Placing one end in a larding-needle, draw it through the skin and a small bit of the meat, leaving the strip of pork, or lardoon, as it is called, in the meat. The two ends left exposed should be of equal length. The punctures for the lardoons should be in rows, of equal distance apart, arranged in any fanciful way that may suit the cook. The usual form for larding, however, is as shown in cut (page 57).

Boning.

Boning is not a difficult operation. It only requires time, a thin, sharp knife, and a little care. Cut off the neck, and also the legs at the first joint. Cut the skin in a line down the middle of the back. Now, taking first one side and then the other of the cut in the fingers, carefully separate the flesh from the bones, sliding the knife close to the bone. When you come to the wings and legs, it is easier to break or unjoint the bones at the body-joint; cutting close by the bone, draw it, turning the flesh of the legs and wings inside out. When all the bones are out, the skin and flesh can be re-adjusted and stuffed into shape. As the leg and wing bones require considerable time to remove, they may be left in, and the body stuffed with lamb or veal force-meat. See receipt for boned chicken (page 174). It is a very pretty and delicious dish.

Egg and Bread Crumbing.

Always sift the bread or cracker crumbs. Whenever there are spare pieces or trimmings of bread or broken crackers, dry them at once in the oven, and after pounding and sifting, put them away in a tin can, for future use. In preparing for use, beat the eggs a little. If they are to be used for sweet dishes, such as rice croquettes, sweeten them slightly. If they are to be used for meats, sweet-breads, oysters, etc., always salt and pepper them, and for a change, finely chopped parsley may be added. Add a small proportion of milk to the eggs, say a half-cupful for two of them, or for one of them, if intended for fish or cutlets. Have the eggs in one plate, and the bread-crumbs in another; roll the article first in the crumbs, then in the egg, then in the crumbs again. In the case of articles very soft, like croquettes, it will be more convenient for one person to shape and roll them in the eggs, and another, with dry hands, to roll them in the bread-crumbs.

Pounded and sifted cracker-crumbs can be purchased by the pound, at bakeries and large groceries, for the same price as whole crackers. However, it will never be necessary to purchase cracker-crumbs, if all scraps of bread are saved and dried. It is deplorable for a cook to throw them away. It shows that she is either too indolent to ever learn to cook, or too ignorant of the uses of scraps of bread to be tolerated. If she saves them for purposes of charity, let her give fresh bread, which will be more acceptable, and save the scraps, which are equally useful to her. Yet if the bread-crumbs when pounded and sifted are not very fine, they are not as good as the cracker-dust.

To Cook Puddings in Boiling Water.

Wet and flour the cloth before adding the pudding. In tying in the pudding, leave room enough for it to swell. If cooked in a mold, do not fill the mold quite full. Never let the water stop boiling. As it wastes away in boiling, replenish the kettle from another containing boiling water.

It is better to cook these puddings (plum-puddings as well) in a steamer than in boiling water. The principle is really the same, and there is no water soaked.

Dried Celery, Parsley, etc., for Winter Use.

Celery, parsley, thyme, summer savory, sage, etc., should all be prepared for winter use. After drying and pulverizing, put them in tin cans or glass jars. Celery and parsley are especially valuable for soups and gravies.

Seeds for Soups.

If the fresh or dried vegetables are not at hand, seeds, such as celery, carrot-seed, etc., can be substituted for a flavoring.

To Flavor with Lemon Zest.

Never use the white part of the peel of a lemon for flavoring. It is bitter. The little globules of oil in the surface of the rind contain all the pleasant flavor of the peel. It may be thinly pared off, avoiding the white pulp. Professional cooks, however, rub loaf-sugar over the surface. The friction breaks the oil-ducts, and the sugar absorbs the oil. It is called zest. The sugar is afterward pounded fine for certain dishes, such as creams, meringues, etc.; or it can be simply melted in custards and beverages.

The Cook’s Table of Weights and Measures.

1 quart of sifted flour = 1 pound.
1 quart of powdered sugar = 1 pound and 7 ounces.
1 quart of granulated sugar = 1 pound and 9 ounces.
1 pint of closely packed butter = 1 pound.
Butter, size of an egg = about 2 ounces.
10 eggs = 1 pound.
3 cupfuls of sugar = 1 pound.
5 cupfuls of sifted flour = 1 pound.
1 heaping table-spoonful = ?th of a gill.
4 gills = 1 pint; 2 pints = 1 quart; 4 quarts = 1 gallon.

In my receipts, I prefer, generally, the use of terms of measure to those of weight, because the former are more convenient for the majority of housekeepers.

To Chop Suet.

Sprinkle flour over it while chopping, which will prevent the pieces from adhering.

Rising-powder Proportions.

To 1 quart of flour, use 2½ tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder; or,

To 1 quart of flour, use 1 tea-spoonful of soda, and 2 tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar; or,

To 1 quart of flour, use 1 cupful of sour milk, and 1 tea-spoonful of soda.

To Make Roux.

A roux is a mixture of butter and flour cooked. It is generally added, uncooked, to thicken a sauce or a soup; but the flavor is much better if it is first cooked, and the sauce or soup is added to it. Professional French cooks always manage it in this way. When the butter is first brought to the boiling-point, in a small stew-pan or cup, the sifted flour is sprinkled in, and both are mixed well together over the fire with an egg-whisk, until the flour is well cooked; a part of the sauce or soup is then stirred in until it becomes smooth and thin enough to add to the main sauce or soup. If the roux is intended for a white sauce, it is not allowed to color; if for a brown sauce, it may color a little, or browned flour may be used.